BY ESAT NEWS
Ethiopia is not among four countries that are recipients of the United States $639 million in additional humanitarian assistance to the millions of people affected by food insecurity and violence.
The USAID said in a statement that the money will go to four countries: South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen.
“With this new assistance, the United States is providing additional emergency food and nutrition assistance, life-saving medical care, improved sanitation, emergency shelter, and protection for those who have been affected by conflict, including both those displaced internally and as refugees,” said the statement by the USAID.
The US will also provide safe drinking water and supporting hygiene and health programmes to treat and prevent disease outbreaks for all four crises, including in Yemen, which is experiencing the world’s largest outbreak of cholera.
USAID officials say the situation of cholera is not as dire in Ethiopia but need interventions.
“We’re in a dire situation right now,” said Rob Jenkins, acting head of the USAID’s bureau of democracy, conflict and humanitarian assistance.
“The situation in southern Ethiopia fortunately does not rise to the dire situation of the other four, but the situation is deteriorating and might very well be catastrophic without additional interventions,” he said.
Washington had already provided some $252 million this year to Ethiopia.
The additional pledge to the four countries was made by President Donald Trump during a working session of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany last week.
UNITED STATES ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE IN RESPONSE TO FAMINE RISK, VIOLENCE, AND FORCED DISPLACEMENT
For Immediate Release
Today [July 8], the United States announced nearly $639 million in additional humanitarian assistance to the millions of people affected by food insecurity and violence in South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen. This additional funding brings the total U.S. humanitarian assistance to over $1.8 billion for these four crises since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2017.
With this new assistance, the United States is providing additional emergency food and nutrition assistance, life-saving medical care, improved sanitation, emergency shelter, and protection for those who have been affected by conflict, including both those displaced internally and as refugees.
The United States is also providing safe drinking water and supporting hygiene and health programs to treat and prevent disease outbreaks for all four crises, including in Yemen, which is experiencing the world’s largest outbreak of cholera.
Tens of millions of people are in need of humanitarian assistance as a result of the man-made crises in South Sudan, Nigeria, and Yemen – all of which are driven by violent conflict-and Somalia, where ongoing conflict is exacerbating the effects of severe and prolonged drought.
While a swift influx of aid helped to alleviate famine in some areas of South Sudan, and has so far prevented famine in Yemen and Somalia, the overall food-security situation is worsening, and life-threatening hunger continues to spread in both scope and scale. Ongoing violence in all four countries, including deliberate attacks on civilians and relief workers, continues to prevent aid from reaching some of the people most in need, and to force still more displacement. We commend the generosity of communities and neighboring countries that receive those fleeing these crises.
The United States is one of the largest donors of humanitarian assistance in all four crises and the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance in the world. The aid we provide represents the best of America’s generosity and goodwill. We will continue to work with our international and local partners to provide the life-saving aid needed to avert famine, and to support communities impacted by these crises. We welcome the contributions already provided by other international donors, but as needs continue to rise, we urge other donors to increase their level of humanitarian support to help save more lives.
